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American illustrator and painter noted for his religious and patriotic works (1913?2010). Impressive original study in graphite by Arnold Friberg, accomplished on a 100 x 47 roll of brown kraft paper, portraying Mormon founder Joseph Smith kneeling in the sacred grove on the left side, with George Washington on horseback to the right. Two of Friberg's most famous paintings would return to these subjects: 'The Prayer in the Grove,' which portrays Joseph Smith's 'First Vision,' a foundational experience for the Latter Day Saint movement; and 'The Prayer at Valley Forge,' showing George Washington, dismounted from his horse, kneeling in a moment of private devotion during one of the darkest chapters of the Revolutionary War. Rolled and in very good condition, with overall creasing, several vertical folds, dampstaining along the bottom edge, and wear to edges (including numerous small tears), as well a six-inch tear to the right edge.
Provenance: consignor notes that this was purchased from Utah art dealer Clayton R. Williams (1926-2023), who reported that he acquired the drawing directly from Arnold Friberg and that it had been used by him in his studio. In 2017?18, it was exhibited at the Springville Museum of Art in Utah with other charcoal sketches that Friberg made and used in his Salt Lake City studio over the years.
This large-scale study by Arnold Friberg is significant as it unites two of his most iconic spiritual-historical subjects?Joseph Smith, the 'Father of Mormonism,' and George Washington, the 'Father of the Country'?on a single sheet. Beyond its rarity as a working studio piece, it illustrates Friberg?s process in shaping the compositions that would become central to his legacy as a painter of American faith and patriotism.
